Celebrant: The Lord Jesus came to proclaim liberty to the captives and salvation to all. This gives us confidence to entrust to him all our needs. 

Deacon/Lector: 

For Church leaders as they continue to proclaim the message Jesus preached, we pray to the Lord... 

That all governments may acknowledge that every human law must correspond to the laws of God, we pray to the Lord... 

That as Christ proclaims liberty to the poor and the captive, we may work to eliminate war, starvation, capital punishment, and abortion, we pray to the Lord… 

That those who are affected by inclement weather may be protected, we pray to the Lord... 

For all who teach religious education, that their words may bring many closer to God, we pray to the Lord... 

That the sick may be comforted and the deceased may share in eternal life, we pray to the Lord... 

Celebrant: 

Father,
We welcome the Gospel of Your Son.
As you answer our prayers,
May the words of that Gospel resound in our hearts
And shape our lives.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

“The fact that we know that we are right about the sacred value of human life should make us humble and more determined to spread this message by the love shown in our lives and our willingness to be servants of life.  As St. John reminds us, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn 1:8).  Pro-lifers are convinced – mightily convinced – of the boundless mercy of God.  That is the light we bring to the world: the truth about God’s love, about forgiveness, about the beauty of human life in all its stages and states.”  J. Michael Miller, CSB, Archbishop of Vancouver, Canada, Homily at Holy Innocents Annual Pro-Life Mass, January 12, 2010

Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
1 Cor 12:12-30 or 12:12-14, 27
Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Video with homily suggestions

The Gospel reading today fits perfectly with the call for protection of children living in the womb. Such advocacy is at the heart of the Gospel and of Jesus’ mission. “He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captive…to let the oppressed go free.”

Nobody is more oppressed in our world today than the unborn child. The Spirit of the Lord, who is our Advocate in heaven, fills us and makes us advocates for these lives. And that advocacy takes so many numerous forms in the wide variety of activities in the pro-life movement. Just as the second reading reminds us of the diversity of the one Body of Christ, so is that diversity manifested in the pro-life movement which, driven by the same Spirit who is “Father of the poor,” seeks the same ultimate goal.

We are called to remind our people of the extent of this tragedy, and of the fact that it is “our business” to intervene for the victims of abortion, no less than it is our business to help the victims of crime, war, drugs, poverty, AIDS, and any other type of violence. Ours is the business of love, the business of “letting the oppressed go free,” for that is what God has done to us.

Following are some facts and quotes that can help to frame the abortion tragedy:

Over 62 million children have been aborted in the United States since the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision.

Abortions are done mostly for non-medical reasons. As the abortion industry itself admits on the website of the Alan Guttmacher Institute, "On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 2/3 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner."

As the University of Detroit Law Review points out, "The Supreme Court's decisions…allowed abortion on demand throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy" (Paul B. Linton, Enforcement of State Abortion Statutes after Roe: A State-by-State Analysis, Vol. 67, Issue 2, Winter 1990).

Quotes from Abortion supporters

"...The abortion-rights folks know it, the anti-abortion folks know it, and so probably, does everyone else. One of the facts of abortion is that women enter abortion clinics to kill their fetuses. It is a form of killing ...you're ending a life." Ron Fitzsimmons, Executive Director, National Coalition of Abortion Providers, New York Times, 26 February 1997

Dr. Fredrik Broekhuizen performs abortions and testified under oath in US District Court on April 5, 2004 about how he does abortions. The following describes legal activity: "I will then, while holding on to the fetus … try and ease those parts through the cervix … The fetus will either continue to come or will begin to break apart. It will break apart wherever or whatever it is. It may be in the middle of the leg, it may be at the abdomen, it may be at the chest…' (Planned Parenthood v. Ashcroft)